Member Spotlight: Eric Knudsen

Position/Employer: Head of Glint People Science Research, LinkedIn

How long have you been a SIOP member? I've been a member of SIOP since 2012.

What roles have you had within SIOP? Member - Electronic Communications Committee

What sparked your interest in I-O psychology? I actually began my graduate school career studying school psychology, and quickly realized my interests were connected more deeply to the organizational aspects of education. This realization, combined with seeing that work was becoming an increasingly important part of our identities as people, inspired me to pivot into I-O psychology.

What role do you see I-O psychology playing in the future of work? As long as I've been studying or working as an I-O psychologist, I have never before heard so many I-O/OD and workplace concepts enter the public dialogue. People outside of the field are becoming more passionate, better informed, and more thoughtful about how work affects our lives. More than any other time, this feels like our moment to share the decades (really a century!) of expertise we've developed on these very issues. We must find new ways to break free from our bubble and engage with the public to share our knowledge, the ways we learn, and the ways we can have impact on the lives of everyone at work.

Which of the Top 10 Workplace Trends for 2021 do you most strongly relate to and how can I-O psychology practitioners, educators, and students impact this trend?Currently I spend a lot of my time thinking about all of the trends. However, at LinkedIn working on the Glint team, I have a particular focus on employee well-being and how other timely SIOP trends (e.g., remote, flexibility) impact that well-being. I-O psychologists have long impacted these experiences by guiding organizations through a survey and action planning process. The industry, however, is moving toward inspiring leaders and managers to see employee listening as a continuous journey, rather than a punctuated one. Surveys will remain essential tools in the well-being "toolbox", but I-Os can now better support organizations by also promoting healthy feedback habits year round (e.g.., effective manager 1:1s, healthy goal setting, ongoing conversations, etc.).

What advice would you give to students or early practitioners? Never stop learning. And I don't just mean learning new skills. Some of the biggest strides I've made in my approach and philosophy about the work we do have come from simply talking to people about what they're working on. Find just 30 minutes each month to connect with someone new in the I-O/OD space. Alternate between academics and applied practitioners and ask them about the biggest problem they're working on. Take some notes and reflect on how interesting that problem is to you. Early in my career, I found that this kind of introspection helped guide my work toward problems that I felt passionate about.

What is one of your favorite SIOP Annual Conference memories/highlights? Being awarded SIOP's John C. Flanagan Award in 2015 for my work studying the skill networks of I-O psychologists and related disciplines was immensely rewarding. The poster was included in the SIOP Time Capsule; time (and lots of it) will tell how the learnings hold up!

Please share one non-I-O-related bit of information about yourself. As someone who loves data, I thought when my son was born I'd want to collect data on diaper changes and bottle feedings. It turns out parents of infants don't have time for that. We'd rather be sleeping, or eating, or showering. Or all three at once.

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